Felicia Cravens declares candidacy for Harris County Republican Party Chair

As a tea party leader, I’ve wanted to be independent of the Republican Party for many reasons. I wanted to be free to hold Republicans accountable. I wanted to avoid the charge of being a Republican auxiliary. I wanted to focus on the core beliefs of tea party: fiscal responsibility, free markets, following the Constitution. I handed the precinct over to another passionate volunteer so as not to shortchange either the tea party or the Republican Party. But I’ve stayed involved in Republican politics, even serving on the Rules Committee at the Republican Party of Texas’s State Convention last summer.

But my county is in trouble. The largest county in the largest Red State has been turning blue before my eyes. I’ve seen what progressive policies are doing in other states, in other counties in my own state. I’ve seen what they’re doing to us as a nation. And I can’t watch from the sidelines anymore.

I don’t have the confidence required to believe the current leadership in the Harris County Republican Party is able to handle the Battleground Texas assault, the technology gap, the lack of strategic partnerships or the messaging shortcomings we face. And I refuse to sit through another election cycle wishing I could do more.

It is no longer a choice to fight. I am compelled to fight.

I’m announcing that I am going to run for Harris County Republican Party Chair in 2014.

Felicia Cravens leading the original tea party in Houston in February 2009.

I say not totally because I saw her at a meeting a week ago and she said that she was seriously considering the idea. But still somewhat surprised that she would subject herself to what will be an incredibly nasty campaign against her by the pay-to-play slates that rule Harris County Republican Party primaries.

Other than the nastiness that is certain to come her way, it will be an interesting race to watch. Will Jared Woodfill run again? All signs point to that. If he runs, will he participate in the debate or run like he did last year and refuse to be seen at Republican events during the primary season, relying on his many television appearances and name recognition to defeat Paul Simpson. And speaking of Paul, will he try for the third time? After all, they say that the third time is the charm and remember, Jared didn’t exactly crush Paul in 2012, winning 53% to 47%, with a 26% undervote in that race. Will some as yet unnamed candidate try to force a runoff, where anything can happen? Who knows.

What I do know is that Felicia is a tireless worker and will bring a lot of energy into the race, as well as a younger voting block and huge social media presence. She completely and thoroughly understands that the HCRP has been losing ground because of Jared’s inability to convince the Westside and older Republicans of the need to expand the party and open it up to those people that, as Ronald Reagan would say, agree with you 80% of the time. How she plans to bridge the gap between the social conservatives that rule the party and the liberty minded people that want the party to grow will be critical to her success or lack thereof.

I’m looking forward to watching her grow as a candidate, just as I’ve watched her grow as a Tea Party leader, political influencer, social media maven, and educator. Obviously, she’ll have to earn my vote, just as any other challenger for this position would because it is such a critical position for the future of the Republicans in Harris County. In a perfect world, Jared would drop out of the race and allow Felicia, Paul (if he so chooses), and others to fight it out and improve the chances that the Harris County Republican Party will not become irrelevant in a few years.

Good luck Felicia. And put on that battle armor because you are going to need it.